We have several pairs of cardinals that hang in our backyard, but one of the males is almost totally black! His underside is kind of dark gray, but on top, he is all black. Is this a species of cardinal or maybe some other bird that likes to pal around with them. He has the crest like cardinals have.
2007-02-14 06:07:34 · 4 answers · asked by Denise P 4 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Zoology
Are you possibly seeing a titmouse, they are gray and have a crest as well. Not sure what part of the country you live in....this would help narrow it down. My other thought is a Phainopepla if you live in the western part of the US. Here are some photos:
Phainopepla (male):
http://cabezaprieta.org/images/jorgensen/phainopepla10.jpg
Phainopepla (female):
http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~drintoul/sabbatical_images/images/phainopepla_female_2_s.jpg
Titmouse (tufted) although it would depend on where you live as to which species you get:
http://www.caddodefense.org/tw-birds/images/TuftedTitmouse2.jpg
2007-02-14 08:25:57 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
If this bird is similar in size, beak shape etc. and behavior to the other cardinals, I would say that it's a melanistic cardinal, (it has a genetic variation that produces more dark pigment.) Stellar's Jay is a crested bird, black above but blue below and probably slightly larger than a cardinal, found in mountainous areas of western and central NA. A Brazilian Cardinal (naturalized in Hawaii) is similar to your sighting, but they're white below, black on the back, with a red head. I guess a black crested form of the Tufted Titmouse (TX area) is possible too: http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/i7310id.html
2007-02-14 07:19:06 · answer #2 · answered by Nostra da Moose 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hrm, as others have said there are several possibilities:
1. You live in the southwest U.S. - this could be a Phainopepla.
2. You live in south Texas, this could be a Black-crested Titmouse.
3. You live elsewhere, this is a cardinal with funny pigementation.
2007-02-17 10:07:13 · answer #3 · answered by Strix 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There are black cardinal, they're called sturgis cardinals(i think i spelled that right), we have tons in the community we live in and they're vicious little suckers, they're attacking our cats because they didn't migrate this winter and now they have no food, just recentley they started attacking my husky
2007-02-15 07:34:41 · answer #4 · answered by joyce j 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋